Grid companies need to install 25 converter platforms and
about 3,880 kilometers (2,400 miles) of subsea power cables, the
Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, or BSH, said today in
an e-mailed statement as it unveiled the legally binding plan.

The outline, which sets standards and locations, “is the
world’s first systematic power network plan in the offshore
sector,” said Monika Breuch-Moritz, president of BSH. “The
capacities have been set so that the German government’s 2030
energy targets can be achieved in principle.”

Merkel wants to add 25,000 megawatts of offshore turbines
by 2030, about the same capacity as 25 nuclear plants. About 280
megawatts are operating currently. The expansion has been
delayed amid wrangling over financial risk-sharing and upgrading
the transmission grid.